32 research outputs found
Attendance Dilemma and its Effects on the Academic Performance of Secondary Schools' Students in Osun State, Nigeria
Worried by the dwindling academic performance of students in the various national examinations in Nigeria in recent times, this study examined the causes of attendance challenge and their impact on the academic performance of Secondary Schoolsâ students in Osun State of Nigeria. To achieve this aim, scores in attendance and examinations for 3,050 students in the last three years were collected from 61 state-owned Secondary Schools out of a total of 208 Schools in the State. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested in this respect while descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were adopted for the analysis. The results indicated that the average attendance scores of students across the ten constituencies in the state are proportional to their examination scores. Also, parents/guardians ranked poverty level (M = 3.96), unbearable extra fees imposed on students by the school authority (M = 3.95) and high cost of instructional materials (M = 3.93) as major significant causes for their wardsâ absenteeism at school. The results of Chi-square value (Ď2 cal = 26.35 > Ď2 tab =7.32) for the test of hypothesis showed that a significant relationship exists between class attendance and academic performance of Secondary School students in the study area. It was concluded that a mechanism should be put in place by the State Government to curb the extra fees being charged by the various school authorities.
Keywords: Attendance dilemma; academic performance; Effects; Osun State; Secondary Schools; students
Parental Marital Status as Predictor of Undergraduatesâ Mental Health Status
Parenting plays a major role in the development and transformation of young adults. However, in recent years, the aptness of parents has been greatly reduced. Considering the increase of broken marriages and single parenting in Nigeria, young adults may be at risk of depreciating mental health due to unexpected emotional challenges with respect to the immediate family. This cross-sectional survey examined the mental health status of undergraduates as a function of parentâs marital status. One hundred and fifty-six undergraduates selected from three higher institutions responded to the Awaritefe Psychological Index (API), measuring mental health status. Two hypotheses were tested at p=0.05 level of significance and the results revealed that parentâs marital status did not significantly predict undergraduatesâ mental health status (β=-0.076, t=0.951, p>0.05); however, the type of higher institution significantly predicted undergraduatesâ mental health status (β=0.159, t= -1.985, p<0.05). Since this study revealed that the institution of learning is an effective predictor of undergraduatesâ mental health status, it is recommended that institutions of learning should be made more academically conducive for undergraduates to foster better mental health
Harmony-Disharmony Scale: Development and Initial Factorial Validation
The Harmony Restoration Theory (HRTheory) propounded by Ebigbo (1995, 2001a) is an African psychodiagnostic theory of health. It is a theory of harmony-disharmony, psychopathology, psychotherapy and a useful attempt to account for the aetiology of psychopathology in the African. Central to the theory is the notion that psychopathology arises from the disharmony in the cosmos of an individual. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a measuring scale, harmonydisharmony scale (HD Scale), for determining the areas of the cosmos which an individual needs harmony restoration before the initiation of harmony restoration therapy. Method - Based on the harmony restoration theory of health and Harmony restoration therapy, 120 items with 40 items per subscale were generated focusing on the three aspects of an individualâs cosmos viz: endocosmos, mesocosmos and exocosmos needing harmony restoration. The outcome, a 120 likert-type scale, was administered to a cross-section of University undergraduates. The 258 responses obtained from the respondents (124 males and 128 females) aged 16 to 29 years (21.02 Âą 4.083, mean Âą s.d.) were subjected to factor analysis. Results - The data was examined to assess the suitability for factor analysis and was found suitable with good R-matrix, Bartlettâs test of Sphericity and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) sample sufficiency. A 3-factor model emerged from the result of the factor analysis with 59 pure and valid items loading on factor 1, 23 items loading on factor 2 and 16 items loading on factor 3. The factors retained their original theoretical names viz: endocosmos, mesocosmos and exocosmos. Conclusion - The finding of this study is consistent with the harmony restoration theory on the African personality consisting of three components. Suggestions on ways to advance this area of research were made and a short version of the harmonydisharmony scale was proposed
The Psychological Imperative in Political Processes in Nigeria
The nature of politics involves the coordination of peaceful human co-existence. Given its central
place in human existence, politics has a great importance in fostering a better living condition of
people. But when wrongly pursued and exercised, political power becomes a destructive tool in
the hands of political leaders. In view of this importance, it becomes an imperative to subject
those vying for political positions to psychological (personality) test in order to validate their fitness
and usefulness in ensuring the purpose of politics which among others includes the coordination
of human society. This paper employs observatory, dialogical and discursive methods in examining
the interlock between politics and psychology. It highlights some abnormal behaviours
displayed by our political leaders and argues that the withdrawer of psychology and psychologists
to the background in political matters in Nigeria spells doom for the country at large. Thus, it recommends
that there must be a deliberate fusion of politics (political science) and psychology,
beyond mere referencing them as belonging to the social sciences. In other words, there must be a
deliberate intellectual merger of politics and psychology within the university system and the
public sphere. It also recommends that psychologists should get involved in national discourse not
just as citizens but also as professionals who can provide answers to national issues especially in
regards to analyzing the behaviours of political leaders and determining whom are fit to lead. Finally,
it holds that the civil society and psychologists have a viable role to play in redressing the
socio-political âmadnessâ in the corridor of power in Nigeria. Importantly, this paper does not
discuss the wide variety of personality tests and does not pretend to have conducted any personality
test on any public office holder, but suggests that personality tests are necessary in order to
ensure sanity in our polity by recruiting the âright peopleââpeople without personality disorde
Terrorism Inclination and Self-Esteem Level of Secondary School Students in Nigeria
Incidences of terrorism and proclivity or penchant towards such acts has necessitated the need to examine if secondary school students are inclined towards terrorism, the gender that is most inclined to terrorist tendencies and whether self-esteem issues contribute to terrorism inclination. This is to assist in initiating general and gender specific educational campaign among secondary school students aimed at curbing terrorism in Nigeria. This study aimed to identify the specific gender which is more predisposed to terrorism and to manifesting self-esteem issues among secondary school students. In order to investigate gender differences in terrorism inclination and self-esteem issues among secondary school students in Lagos, 590 students from 8 secondary schools in Lagos State were administered the 10 item Terrorism Inclination Scale by Agbo and Ezeuduji (2010) and the Rosenbergâs self-esteem scale. The participants consisted of 249 males and 341 females aged 9 to 23 years (M = 14.44, SD = 1.58) in Junior and Senior Secondary Schools. The result of a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) used to analyse gender differences in terrorism inclination and self-esteem issues among secondary school students in Nigeria showed a significant influence of gender in terrorism inclination among secondary school students, F (2, 587) = 4.876, p<= 0.01; Wilksâ Lambda = 0.984, partial Ρ2 =0.02 but there was no gender difference in self-esteem level of secondary school students. Male secondary school students reported both higher terrorism inclination (XĚ
= 24.56, SD = 8.11) and higher level of self-esteem (XĚ
= 21.05, SD = 3.36) than female secondary school students. This study has clearly shown the existence of terrorism proclivity among secondary school students irrespective of their self-esteem level. The need for educators to focus on secondary school students in order to dissuade them from sympathising with terrorists so as to curb the spate of terrorism in Nigeria was discussed
Assessment of Health-related Locus of Control among Undergraduates Substance Users and Non-Users
Introduction: Locus of control is one of the most extensively investigated psychological constructs in literature and the purpose of the study was to assess health-related locus of control among undergraduateâs substance users and non-users. Methods: Data from 574 students between ages 18 and 27 (n= 574, mean=21.15 (+/- 1.8years) was collected from five tertiary institutions in AdoOdo-Ota LGA, Nigeria. An adapted and validatedversion of the World Health Organization (WHO) questionnaire on drug use surveys and the multidimensional health locus of control (MHLC) which was designed to measure the degree to which an individual feels they are in control of their ownhealth were employed for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferentialstatistics.Three research hypotheses were raised and tested. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The preliminary result shows that there is no significant difference in the health-related locus of control between substance users and non-users, and between heavy and occasional drinkers, but there exist significant differences based on gender. Conclusion: This article discusses the implications of these findings especially in the area of health education and the use of health locus of control measure
Political Behaviour & Party Politics in a Democracy: A Comparative Analysis of Ghana & Nigeria
Contemporary literature on emerging democracies identifies the art of elections as the ultimate
measure for democratic credentials in a country. âIf free and fair elections are held regularly within a
constitutionally stipulated time frameâ and, in particular, âwhere regime change occurs through such
electionsâ, they have argued, âare enough reasons for a country to be branded democraticâ. Recent
studies conducted by Ghanaian and Nigerian Universities on Ghana and Nigeria elections since 1996
tend to affirm this view. In contesting such unqualified assessment, this paper argues that merely
conducting free and fair elections at regular intervals does not make a country democratic. Of
paramount importance is the quality of elections held and the meaning attached to them. These
features, the paper argues, are functions of enduring and sound party politics manifested in decent
political behaviour which are enshrined in the basic tenets of political party systems in any given
government. The descriptive and comparative critical method of analysis is adopted for examining the
dynamics of party politics and political behaviours between Ghana and Nigeria with the view to
determining their democratic status. Ultimately, the study attempts to show how the various
conceptions of political behaviour & party politics in these countries have drawn them either nearer or
further away from achieving democratization
Parental Marital Status as Predictor of Undergraduatesâ Mental Health Status
Parenting plays a major role in the development and transformation
of young adults. However, in recent years, the aptness of parents has been
greatly reduced. Considering the increase of broken marriages and single
parenting in Nigeria, young adults may be at risk of depreciating mental
health due to unexpected emotional challenges with respect to the immediate
family. This cross-sectional survey examined the mental health status of
undergraduates as a function of parentâs marital status. One hundred and
fifty-six undergraduates selected from three higher institutions responded to
the Awaritefe Psychological Index (API), measuring mental health status.
Two hypotheses were tested at p=0.05 level of significance and the results
revealed that parentâs marital status did not significantly predict
undergraduatesâ mental health status (β=-0.076, t=0.951, p>0.05); however,
the type of higher institution significantly predicted undergraduatesâ mental
health status (β=0.159, t= -1.985, p<0.05). Since this study revealed that the
institution of learning is an effective predictor of undergraduatesâ mental
health status, it is recommended that institutions of learning should be made
more academically conducive for undergraduates to foster better mental
health
Terrorism Inclination and Self-Esteem Level of Secondary School Students in Nigeria
Incidences of terrorism and proclivity or penchant towards such
acts has necessitated the need to examine if secondary school students are
inclined towards terrorism, the gender that is most inclined to terrorist
tendencies and whether self-esteem issues contribute to terrorism
inclination. This is to assist in initiating general and gender specific
educational campaign among secondary school students aimed at curbing
terrorism in Nigeria. This study aimed to identify the specific gender
which is more predisposed to terrorism and to manifesting self-esteem
issues among secondary school students. In order to investigate gender
differences in terrorism inclination and self-esteem issues among
secondary school students in Lagos, 590 students from 8 secondary
schools in Lagos State were administered the 10 item Terrorism
Inclination Scale by Agbo and Ezeuduji (2010) and the Rosenbergâs selfesteem
scale. The participants consisted of 249 males and 341 females
aged 9 to 23 years (M = 14.44, SD = 1.58) in Junior and Senior Secondary
Schools. The result of a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA)
used to analyse gender differences in terrorism inclination and self-esteem
issues among secondary school students in Nigeria showed a significantinfluence of gender in terrorism inclination among secondary school
students, F (2, 587) = 4.876, p<= 0.01; Wilksâ Lambda = 0.984, partial Ρ2
=0.02 but there was no gender difference in self-esteem level of secondary
school students. ale secondary school students reported both higher
terrorism inclination (X = 24.56, SD = 8.11) and higher level of selfesteem
(X = 21.05, SD = 3.36) than female secondary school students.
This study has clearly shown the existence of terrorism proclivity among
secondary school students irrespective of their self-esteem level. The need
for educators to focus on secondary school students in order to dissuade
them from sympathising with terrorists so as to curb the spate of terrorism
in Nigeria was discussed